- Collection:
- Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations
- Title:
- Black political life and the politics of race in the urban south: Jackson, Mississippi, as a case study, 1944-1981, 1984
- Creator:
- Adams, Michael O.
- Date of Original:
- 1984-05-01
- Subject:
- Degrees, Academic
Dissertations, Academic - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- theses
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- The primary justification for this case study rests on the premise that although many empirical studies on black political life in the South have proliferated over the years, there are few analyses which explain why today blacks in many areas of the South have failed to maximize their political potentialities. Toward this end, it was hypothesized in this work that the question of race is both a significant and an explanatory variable as regards to the problem of black political impotence (not maximizing potential) in many areas of the South. First of all, the concept of race was operationalized to reflect an experience wherein racist sentiments remain among white political actors and to suggest that these actors use their positions to create and maintain institutions and practices in both the black and white communities which insure the continued subordination of blacks. These institutions and practices include, among other things, forms of government, electoral procedures, the recruitment and behavior of black leaders, and political practices and strategies within black communities. The focus of the dissertation was on black political life in Jackson, Mississippi. Data for the study were derived from (1) content analysis of government documents, newspapers, periodicals and books; (2) direct observation of elections and meetings involving black political candidates and local community leaders; and (3) the administration of an attitudinal survey. In general, the data provided empirical support in explaining the significance of race as an explanatory variable in regards to black political life in the South. Specifically, the study supports its basic premise that the racial biases reflected in the operation and administration of Jackson's commission form of government with its at-large elections inhibits Jackson's forty-seven percent black population from becoming effective participants within the local political process. In addition, it is clear from the data generated that the racial biases reflected in Jackson's municipal government also operate as instruments which support and maintain the differentiations and the concomitant unequal treatment which take place in the local socioeconomic environment.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1984_adams_michael_o.pdf
- Rights Holder:
- Clark Atlanta University
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library
- Rights:
-
